On the twenty-second day of December in the year 1620 our Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock. The next autumn they held a feast of thanksgiving. Not only did they feast, but they gave sincere and hearty thanks to God for His care and protection over them.

As we approach the Thanksgiving season this year, the following symposium from the Thanksgiving Proclamations of several of our Presidents is especially fitting--"No people on earth have such abundant cause for thanksgiving as we have. We are thankful to God for liberty, justice, and constitutional government. We are strong in the steadfast conservation of the heritage of self-government bequeathed to us by the wisdom of our fathers. 'Righteousness exalteth a nation' and 'peace on earth, good will towards men' furnish the only foundations upon which can be built the lasting achievements of the human spirit. We shall do well to accept all these favors and bounties with a becoming humility".

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Walter W. Bacon, Governor of the State of Delaware, do hereby set apart and proclaim

THURSDAY, THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF

NOVEMBER, A. D. 1945 AS A DAY OF

PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING

that the war is over and earth, sea, and sky are safe once more; that the lights have come on again all over the world; and that we are on the road back to peace. In our homes and in our places of worship let us assemble on that day to give thanks to Almighty God for the many blessings and mercies we have received. Let us in our prayers remember the wounded and those who will not come back, their families, and those who are still in our armed services. Let us pray for a just peace and that we may be as willing to make sacrifices for peace as we have made them for war.

In gratitude to God for the great Republic in which we are privileged to live let the flag of our State and of our Nation be abundantly displayed throughout this Thanksgiving Day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Delaware to be hereunto affixed at Dover, this thirteenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventieth.